At Connecticut College, president who knows your name

In his last days in office, Lee Higdon said he has tried to create a richer and more vibrant intellectual community at Connecticut College by making sure students feel welcome and accepted, spending more than $90 million to transform virtually every corner of the campus, and building a stronger partnership between the college and the greater New London community.

Higdon said he was acting on an aspiration held by faculty, students and staff when he first arrived 7½ years ago - they wanted to be viewed as one of the best residential liberal arts colleges in the country.

"There was a desire to be associated with excellence and to have a student experience that would be without equal," Higdon said. "… It took resources and it took a very focused plan."

Higdon steered the college through the longest economic downturn since the Great Depression and, in the midst of it, launched the school's most ambitious fundraising effort. The $200 million campaign ended in June after surpassing its goal by $11 million.